Base-ball-fielder&#39;s glove.



F. J. RATSGH. BASE BALL FIELDERS GLOVE.

APPLIOATIONIILBD JUNE 24, 1909.

980,560, Patented Jan.3,1911.

III/E117;

THE NORRIS PETERS co., wnsmmzron, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

FREDERICK J. RATSCH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BASE-BALL-FIELDERS GLOVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

Application filed June 24, 1909. Serial No. 504,029.

freedom of movement of the players hand but this method of forming the glove is objectionable, for the reason that little or no protection is afforded the players fingers against a swift ball which may strike between any two fingers of the players gloved hand and thereby spread the fingers of the hand to such an extent as to split the flesh or injure the bones, or in some other way disable the player. Furthermore, gloves having individual fingers tend to split in the crotch between the fingers when subjected to continued hard usage, thereby destroying the value of the glove after a short period of time. Furthermore, with a fielders glove of the ordinary type, the ball sometimes escapes between the fingers of the glove, so that errors are frequent from this cause.

The glove of the present invention is intended to obviate the difliculties above noted, by forming the front or palm side of the glove from a single piece of leather, unout between the fingers, to which palm section the rear section of the glove is stitched in a manner to provide finger pockets in con junction therewith, leaving webs between the fingers, out to the full ends thereof, whereby the life of the glove will be prolonged, the players hand protected against splitting between the fingers, and the players fielding very much improved.

Further objects will appear from a detailed description of the invention, which consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a face view of the palm side of the glove; and Fig. 2 a similar view of the back of the glove.

The palm side of the glove is" in the form of a continuous section of leather 3, which is broken only at one side by a notch 4:, cut to form a thumb section 5, the contour of the palm being substantially that of the players hand, with the spacing between the fingers bridged over to form web sections 6, 7, and 8, between the several fingers of the glove. The web sections extend out to a distance substantially equal to the length of the fingers, being very slightly recessed at the points 9. The palm section cooper ates with a back portion which is stitched thereto to afford finger pockets 10, 11, 12, and 13, and a thumb pocket 14. The sections forming the pockets are stitched together, and stitched to the palm section in the manner ordlnarily employed in making base ball fielders gloves; and the palm sec tion is padded in the usual manner and to the desired extent. In fact, the back of the glove does not differ, in any material respect, from gloves of the usual type.

The notch 4:, between the thumb and first finger, is reinforced by a cross strip or web 15, which is preferably, although not necessarily, separate from the material composing the palm section, in which respect it differs from the webs between the fingers, which are integrally formed with and form a part of the palm section. The palm sec tion is preferably formed of soft flexible leather, so that the web sections between the fingers are sufiiciently pliable to permit easy manipulation and movement of the fingers during the playing of the game.

In use, the finger webs will limit the distance to which the players fingers can be distended, so that there will be no danger of splitting in the crotch between the fingers when the player receives a fast ball on this part of the glove. Furthermore, the webs will serve to prevent the escape of the ball between the fingers, and thereby improve the fielding average of the player. At the same time the continuous uncut formation of the palm section of the glove will prevent the splitting or tearing which frequently takes place where the palm section is notched to afford individual fingers, so that the life of the glove will be prolonged, without materially increasing the expense of making and assembling the glove.

I claim:

A padded baseball glove comprising a back section forming thumb and finger sections including thumb and finger pockets, said thumb and finger sections being stitched together and completely covering the fingers and thumb and extending a substantial disfinger pockets and including the crotches' tance over the back of thedhand, and an inbetween the fingers.

te ral front section exten in over the en-. v

tir e face of the glove and farming a Web FREDERICK RATSOH' 5 between the fingers, said front section being Witnesses:

secured to the finger pockets by a continu- WALKER BANNING,

ous, row of stitches extending around the WM. P. BOND. 

